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rollerdisco

Just a quick post to let you know of a few happenings at the moment. A YTMND user is running for a seat in the house of representatives. One of my childhood idols is trying to sue me. I'm adding a new content box to the front page template and a bunch of new development info.

Read more for the hotness.

First off, YTMND user FreAkweNtcY is running for a seat in the house of representatives in Florida. So if you're crazy enough that you both live in Florida and think that the Diebold machines will count your vote properly, vote for him, maybe we can spice up CSPAN. Really though, it would be pretty amazing to get someone who is young enough that they are still in touch with the future of the country into any sort of political office.

I know it's been a while since I've posted a copyright complaint, but it's mainly due to the fact that at this point I receive so many that I just ignore them. The company that represents the Far Side has been persistent though, so I felt they deserved a response. Some of the (many) sites they mention as breaking copyright law:

Regarding the last news post, Cobalt sent in a document listing punishable behaviors and applicable punishments. BTape then made a wiki version using Cobalt's version as a base. Feel free to make your own versions on the wiki and discuss it on the talk pages. This is important stuff, so don't keep your opinions quiet.

I am going to be adding a "PoliticTMND" content box to the front page template for the upcoming primaries and elections, I haven't completed the list of applicable keywords yet, but any input on what you guys think should be included would be helpful, feel free to send me a comprehensive list in a PM. This content box will replace "Featured Users" for the time being.

Now, on to development updates. I've branched SVN into a new completely refactored design and started working on it full steam. I finally got around to setting up a (mostly) functioning copy of the site which is entirely separate from the live site, which is a fairly large accomplishment in itself.

One of the hardest parts about refactoring is that it basically involves rewriting huge amounts of code which in the end, if done correctly, function exactly the same as the code you originally had. This can be wholly unsatisfying and can cause you to easily lose focus.

There are so many things I want to do where I keep running into conflicting areas of the code and I have to make cascading code changes to change one small thing, it can be frustrating to say the least.

That being said, I've started to come up with a list of features I want to launch with the new version and I am streamlining a huge portion of the site. I've already completely rewritten a big chunk of the base functionality which will is a great upgrade to scalability and performance.

So once I finalize the list of features for "2.0", I will be posting it up here for everyone to get an idea of just how much the site will be changing. I hope to address a major chunk of the community's concerns and requests, as well as just cleaning up the hundreds of lazy bugs and pieces of the site that are hard to use (or were never implemented).

On a side note, I've deleted nearly 700 users over the past few months and plan on "clearing the queue" soon so site scores should normalize a bit. One of the big hurdles of the new system is the ability to allow moderators to delete users instantly but have the ability to restore them if anything goes wrong, so in the future, this should be less of an issue.

I know user moderation is one of the largest complaints here, and rightly so. The focus has always been to moderate sites, because (as I've said in the past) this was never intended to be a community site. I wish it were as easy as "delete anyone who causes trouble" but it isn't, and that's the fault of my original design for YTMND. There is a lot going on in the back end, so letting moderators delete users at will is currently an extremely risky proposition, because once someone is deleted, it is entirely permanent.

I know the way the system is designed promotes alts, down-voting and general trolling, but such is necessary in a system that promotes anyone to participate and enable free speech. That being said, the new system is going to have an extremely comprehensive set of checks to avoid the "alt problem" all together. I know talking about this in the future-tense will just make Afrotech mock and complain even further, but I'm going to implement some interim solutions to tide the surge of alt creation. Most importantly, I've limited account creation by IP to once every 24 hours. While this won't stop alts, it makes creating them a lot more of a chore. I will be further outlining what the new system will do to disable this behavior in the next news post.

I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming amount of feedback, and I want you to know I'm reading as much of it as I can, and I am really working to make YTMND a place we all want to visit on a regular basis again.

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Also, I know I promised you new design comps for the site, but as usual, the designers are procrastinating turds who have no sense of urgency, so I've given them a couple extra weeks to come up with something pretty.

I'm surprised YTMND survived through many of these "OMG I'LL SUE U IF U DUN GET RID OF [INSERT SITES HERE]" things. I guess you'll survive through Farside, since I think your childhood idol actually has a heart unlike Scientology. Good luck.

Threats are a lot cheaper than actual legal action, so I think people rarely threaten with an actual intent to sue. This is especially true in cases like ours where it's very unclear at most times who is in the "right".

FREAKWENTCY FOR SENATOR? HOW ABOUT DARTHWANG FOR PRESIDENT... VOAT% FOR HIM HE WILL NEVER FORGET POLEND. HE WILL PROMISE TO VETO ANY ANTI-3500HZSQUAREWAVE LEGISLATURE PASSED BY KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGRESS, HE WILL RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $599USDOLlARS, SO THERE WILL BE AN EPIC 88MPH RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER IN EVERY GARAGE AND A TENDERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONE IN EVERY POT. ALSO AS CAPTAIN OF THE USS INTERNETS, HE WILL ENDORSE EPIC WIN BY GIVING EVERYONE A SECRETNAZISTAPLERPHONE TO GET ONLINE.

Max, imposing rules based on morality will only harm the fabric of the YTMND community.
Giving people the choice not to view offensive material is one thing, telling people what isn't humor or how to place their votes is another.

We need a way to bring the old members back and smack the new YTMNF*gs (copyright 2008), as the new more retarded members are to be referred to, in line. Like banning if you have 100 votes and less than 5 of them are 2, 3, or 4 stars.

FREAKWENTCY FOR SENATOR? HOW ABOUT DARTHWANG FOR PRESIDENT... VOAT% FOR HIM HE WILL NEVER FORGET POLEND. HE WILL PROMISE TO VETO ANY ANTI-3500HZSQUAREWAVE LEGISLATURE PASSED BY KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGRESS, HE WILL RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $599USDOLlARS, SO THERE WILL BE AN EPIC 88MPH RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER IN EVERY GARAGE AND A TENDERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONE IN EVERY POT. ALSO AS CAPTAIN OF THE USS INTERNETS, HE WILL ENDORSE EPIC WIN BY GIVING EVERYONE A SECRETNAZISTAPLERPHONE TO GET ONLINE.

FREAKWENTCY FOR SENATOR? HOW ABOUT DARTHWANG FOR PRESIDENT... VOAT% FOR HIM HE WILL NEVER FORGET POLEND. HE WILL PROMISE TO VETO ANY ANTI-3500HZSQUAREWAVE LEGISLATURE PASSED BY KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGRESS, HE WILL RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $599USDOLlARS, SO THERE WILL BE AN EPIC 88MPH RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER IN EVERY GARAGE AND A TENDERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONE IN EVERY POT. ALSO AS CAPTAIN OF THE USS INTERNETS, HE WILL ENDORSE EPIC WIN BY GIVING EVERYONE A SECRETNAZISTAPLERPHONE TO GET ONLINE.

FREAKWENTCY FOR SENATOR? HOW ABOUT DARTHWANG FOR PRESIDENT... VOAT% FOR HIM HE WILL NEVER FORGET POLEND. HE WILL PROMISE TO VETO ANY ANTI-3500HZSQUAREWAVE LEGISLATURE PASSED BY KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGRESS, HE WILL RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $599USDOLlARS, SO THERE WILL BE AN EPIC 88MPH RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER IN EVERY GARAGE AND A TENDERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONE IN EVERY POT. ALSO AS CAPTAIN OF THE USS INTERNETS, HE WILL ENDORSE EPIC WIN BY GIVING EVERYONE A SECRETNAZISTAPLERPHONE TO GET ONLINE.

FREAKWENTCY FOR SENATOR? HOW ABOUT DARTHWANG FOR PRESIDENT... VOAT% FOR HIM HE WILL NEVER FORGET POLEND. HE WILL PROMISE TO VETO ANY ANTI-3500HZSQUAREWAVE LEGISLATURE PASSED BY KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGRESS, HE WILL RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $599USDOLlARS, SO THERE WILL BE AN EPIC 88MPH RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER IN EVERY GARAGE AND A TENDERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONE IN EVERY POT. ALSO AS CAPTAIN OF THE USS INTERNETS, HE WILL ENDORSE EPIC WIN BY GIVING EVERYONE A SECRETNAZISTAPLERPHONE TO GET ONLINE.

Sorry Max, now that I actually watched them I think my favorite would have to be Bud Light ability to breathe fire commercial. But I think for the next 2 years we should have a fund raiser to raise 2.7 million dollars so we can air a YTMND commercial. I can see it now; "YTMND: A relationship without sex. Sometimes she hates you, sometimes she likes you, most of the time you don't know what she's talking about and about twice a month she says something that makes you laugh."

No I think your suggestion would finalize my decision in whether to quit or not. To be honest if I had a choice of your commercial idea airing or getting f*cked in the *ss by a bull I'd down a bottle of 151, light up a cigarette and say bring on the bull.

I'm well aware it is a joke I just replied with another. I'm a sarcastic *ssh*le...I'm not dense. And in one sentence I come to terms with why people I hate like me and why people I like hate me. I might as well start calling myself House.

"Now you need to promise that, if elected, you will end at least one of your speeches in the house with "Also, c*cks."
If I ever get elected, I promise to begin all of my speeches with 'First, I'd like to pay tribute to my tremendous staff'.

If elected end with YOU FORGOT POLAND, and EPIC88MPHzSQUARERIDGERACERWAVE followed by a CONANSTAPLERCRISPBACONCHEDDARBANANAPHONEROLL in the USS STAPLERPRISE, and remember to thank DARTH KHAN and DENNIS BERGYVER for VOATING %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The proposed rules are still in discussion over on the Wiki and with the ability to recover deleted accounts, even your biased split-voting, comment spam and 1000+ boring noise/sarcastic fad reference YTMNDs can be secured! The future is here!

One of the requirements for a final draft of the rules is to basically remove or re-work all of the really vague rules, because there are currently a lot of them. I started making "my" version of the rules, which basically skipped all of the vague stuff and moved it into sections stating so. In most of the vague cases, it's the sort of thing where as it happens, warnings will be given out, and if it happens enough, more solid rules can be made from actual cases.

This is exactly what I mean! How is my voting biased? I vote based on what I think is funny. How do I comment spam? Because I say "1" or "5"? How are my sites boring? That's just your opinion, tons of people love them.

I think you need to focus on the more static rules. The original todo list was just a general list of behaviors, some of which will never become punishable. If you know my style (and you should by now) you should know it's unlikely I'm ever going to endorse deleting split voters, people who leave dumb comments and other general option-based punishments. There are much bigger problems that deserve a lot more attention, so don't get your panties in a bunch, and comment on what you think actually matters.

Thing is, when Dalton and Aegis did those kind of YTMNDs years back and in moderation, it was quite funny. Now, we've got thousands of them. Plus they're unoriginal even for sites of their kind! I'm astounded you're not bored of making them, because they're certainly not funny to do every day for months and months. Only a handful 'like' them and that's mostly lifeless ass-kissers like McKenzie and Kacen. Plus you guys like pick on users/sites rather than just ignoring them or giving fair criticism.

crap... i posted my comment that was meant to go here above this. his sites are good... there's a 1000 of them but that's what's so fun about voting DarthWang's sites... You might just find one that you've NEVER seen

DarthWang, you're funny at times, but I don't think you understand your own sense of humour very well. If you could find what it is that makes your sites funny and zoom in on that, shedding what isn't in the process, you would make some really excellent sites. But until you do that, it will continue to be difficult for others to appreciate you.

Examine your parenting style you jerry springer recurring character! That paragraph made me orgasm a little inside and it backloaded up and I can taste it in the back of my throat now. Also, f*ck diebold.

Would it be feasible to block image and sound assets after they have been used x amount of time (like 5 for image and 200 for sound)? It would really help reduce the amount of junk posted here. I know all someone has to do is change one thing and a new asset ID is created, but most of the idiots who go to the "intrawebs" for site material are too stupid or lazy to figure that out. It would be nice not to hear Spanish Flea as much.

I know there's the warning, but everyone ignores. Unless you can add some text to the site that says "This image has been used 76 times. Don't five this site." Stupid personal sites and screen shots sites don't bother me as much as seeing yet other site with Brian Pepper's coming at you in a speedo.

They are a nuisance just being made and one makes it to the U&C and top viewed a few times a month (see epic kick). I'm getting sick of being revenge downvoted five times a week because the *ssh*les who make those sites are the dickheads who always revenge downvote.

OK, so, let's not buy any of Gary Larson's books lest he, like a parent, be concerned about where his "children" are at night. What's he doing anyway, selling his children at the bargain shelf in Border's like that? This isn't Turkey.

I think it is safe to say that, if things keep going the way they are now, there will never be another site that gets past 3,000 votes. It seems that every month the user base goes down even more and more. I see sites that take days to get off up and coming compared to a year ago when a single site can garner up to 500 votes after a single day of creation even with an up and coming limit of 300 votes. But that should be the least of our concerns, let alone one of them.

A post in the last news section mentioned that Sites such as "Holy f*cken Sh*t a dinosaur" got 7k votes on nsfw always. No nsfw sites has gotten close to 1,000 votes in along time. I can't pinpoint the exact reason why for some reason, but it probably does have to do with the lack of users. Ive also noticed that fads have gone down. What active fad is there? Politics? phooie. Carmine? 8? Thats it. And that isn't even that good. Hell nutnics had to make a site about giant enemy crab, an old fad.

Though I feel it really isn't to much of a primary problem to deal with (well, it really can't be dealt with), I think YTMND's current state could be somewhat better if there were more users... or at least more voters among the users. And nsfw sites get an even worse beat down in lack of votes. I dunno, it just seems that there will never be another site that makes it to the 'most voted on' of all time list, and to make that list nowadays a site would need 3200+ votes.

The reason sites tagged as NSFW don't get a lot of views and votes is because those sites are hidden on the front page for most users. By default those sites are hidden unless you change it under the options. Most people don't know that. The only fads that are popular are ones that can be done in 5 minutes or less (see Lando). Because those fads are turned out so quickly, they only last a day (see I going to ___ this everyday until you ___).

^well I've known that nsfw sites are hidden from the front page. And I know about the quick 5 minute fads as well (most of which that were not even funny to begin with). I wish there was some way to encourage users to vote more, perhaps it would get rid of the new wave of overrated sites and balance out the 5's that are being handed out everywhere. Maybe that would encourage users who have left this website to come back or even new users to join.

That being said, I really can't think of any frontage design that could effectively replace the top 5, which is where almost all of the sites with 4,000 votes or more gained it from back before the layout change in 2006. The most recent site that passed 2000 votes needed a 4.7 rating. Yet at the same time as I continue to discuss this lack of voting topic, it is most likely that nobody cares about the lack of voting anyways, as most users will not even consider it a problem.

"Lets not forget ytmnsfw.com existed, it made some difference." It did, but mainly because there was less site rotation, it was easier to get views. I do wish it was back. A big problem is most people don't hang out and learn what YTMND is about. There are so many accounts made this year that were created to bash someone on a forum (http://www.ytmnd.com/users/imepicmystery/ to name one).

I'm worried about punishing upvoters (you'll understand if you look at my voting history). Basically, I give high scores to sites that I think are good, but I don't give low scores to ones that I don't, on the basis that I might not understand said sites. In the latter case, I'd be punishing someone for my ignorance. Just some food for thought.

logged in to say d/c. But while I'm here one idea I like is votes by new users being delayed a bit or whatever. For me it took awhile to get to the point where I could not care who it was and just vote fairly 99% of the time. I downvoted, upvoted, narv voted, beat off while voting - everything. It takes time and you have to learn to ignore all the f*ggots who just vote 5 so people will 5 them back and whom you choose to feature thus encouraging unrealistic voting while claiming here to want it to stop. heh

YTMND is like an adolescent child coming of age, and some very long term members have grown with it Iím sure. Although as the long term members mature so should YTMND. There is some incredibly funny and talented members, and the site has the capability to transcend run-of-the-mill quips and fads, as well as miring the site with senseless bickering. I hope the site continues.

Gary Larson, of all people. I'm a little disappointed if he indeed has seen these sites. On another note, glad to see the user moderation stuff is coming around. I hope this kills off at least some of the huge number of front page trolls, maybe making the fp a little more creativity friendly (though that's really just wishful thinking).

"I am really working to make YTMND a place we all want to visit on a regular basis again."
FINALLY! good job max, hope gary larson gets the stick out of his ass, i used to like his comics, now whenever i read them, all i can think about is his stupid *ss trying to sue you for nothing whatsoever.

yeah especially if there is a LOL! EPIC 88 MPH DARTH VADER RIDGE RACER STAPLER GATOR WITH THE CONANCRISPBAKHANCHEDDARBANANAPHONE DOING A BARREL ROLL FROM SPARTA TO MOSKAU TO POLEND BECAUSE JON CARRIE FORGOT THE GRAND COALITION AND NOW JORGE BUSCH MUST VOAT %%%%%%%%%% TO SAVE LEEROY MACGYVER BERGKAMP FROM THE 3500HZ SQUARE WAVE section

so FreAkweNtcY knows the importance of a clean shave, which makes him a perfect candidate for a member of the house of representatives. i live in Florida so ill make sure my friends and I vote for this c*ck sucker. And good luck on the whole law suits, not like this is the first time, everything should work out. Also the new system sounds like a good idea, as I crave free speech this is important to my survival. love you long time.

Max said "I know the way the system is designed promotes alts, down-voting and general trolling, but such is necessary in a system that promotes anyone to participate and enable free speech. That being said, the new system is going to have an extremely comprehensive set of checks to avoid the "alt problem" all together."
So does he want money from sponspored sites causes to violate the rules?

Too bad about Gary Larson. He's done funny stuff for years now but this kinda destroys all of that. Every book ever written, every picture ever taken will be passed around like this eventually and if your first reaction is to cry like a baby and legally attack a parody site then you've sunk about as low as you can. I don't know what you normally do to get rid of morons with no legal basis but just do it again...

the new banning rules are a really bunch of sh*t, way too harsh for some of them, and i like how there is a kick up about fourest using "F*CK" in his title but when chronster's sites constantly get downvoted to f*ck with alts, the mods just shrug. what a piece of sh*t that is. and while you are at it, max, add some more of your friends with crap sites to featured users. even i have better sites than most of them.

just one thing, a lot of feedback you ask for on wiki talk pages or whatever. I have no interest in ever signing up for that. May sound stupid but meh, I've signed up here and don't feel like creating another account somewhere else to talk about here